Usually bought as a small plant. http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/Rosemary.htm http://www.gardenersnet.com/herbs/rosemary.htm lots more on google Liz
can you cut rosemary right back to nothing? Mine looks moldy after the damp vancouver winter outside. It isn't very big, so is it ok to cut it right back to the base and hope for new growth?
Yes that will work. Just remember they are Mediterranean and love warm to hot weather and not too wet. My best plant is actualy out in the paddock planting totaly neglected. They also produce the best oil in their leaves when not coddled. Lovely strong taste. Liz
I love rosemary -- it was my absolute favorite garden herb when I lived somewhere where I could grow it outdoors -- but I've never mastered the trick of keeping it healthy indoors through a Maine winter. I live in hope that somebody will breed a "super-Arp" strain that can tough it out here.
It's been an ugly, wet, cold winter here on the coast, don't have to remind you of that. And it has certainly impacted a lot of our plants. I have 2 Rosemary varieties in a raised planter, the older one has survived, the younger one is now being used as twigs on the barbeque... it'll get replaced soon. Rosemary does NOT like wet feet and they seem to do better in a more sheltered location for me, but then again, I see lots of them as bushes/shrubs in the GVA. I rather suspect yours is a goner, replace it, they're not that expensive.
I also lost my rosemary plant this past winter. With the amount of snow we had, and the colder than usual temperatures, the three year old plant didn't make it. The 18 inches of snow on top of it turned out to be too heavy for the branches. It was a four inch starter plant when I first got it in 2006.
I leave my Rosemary Tree by myfront East facing bow window, it all year round, it gets plenty of sun, and grows rapidly, I have to prune it every 3 months or so.
You can try seeds, but I mostly prefer getting a grown plant. Also, rosemary likes well-drained soil, so make sure it's never sitting in water or sitting in overly-moist soil. You can plant it in a pot and keep it indoors all winter if you like.
